The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones

Rich Cohen enters the Stones epic as a young journalist on the road with the band and quickly falls under their sway - privy to the jokes, the camaraderie, the bitchiness, the hard living. Inspired by a lifelong appreciation of the music that borders on obsession, Cohen's chronicle of the band is informed by the rigorous views of a kid who grew up on the music and for whom the Stones will always be the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time.

The Beatles' Let It Be (33 1/3 Series)

The recording sessions for Let It Be actually began as rehearsals for a proposed return to live stage work for the Beatles, to be inaugurated in a concert at a Roman amphitheatre in Tunisia. In this thoroughly researched book, Steve Matteo delves deep into the complex history of these sessions. He talks to a number of people who were in the studio with the Beatles, recording the sights and sounds of the band at work - bringing to life a period in the Beatles' career that was creative and chaotic in equal measure.

Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day

In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never-before-revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones' infamous Altamont concert in San Francisco, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the idealistic 1960s.

Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV (33 1/3 Series)

In this wickedly entertaining and thoroughly informed homage to one of rock music's towering pinnacles, Erik Davis investigates the magic - black or otherwise - that surrounds this album. Carefully peeling the layers from each song, Davis reveals their dark and often mystical roots - and leaves the listener to decide whether this release is some form of occult induction or just an inspired, brilliantly played rock album.

David Bowie's Low (33 1/3 Series)

Low is a kaleidoscope in which Bowie's obsessions and traits explode into fragments and reform in a new pattern. Sonically, it is hugely adventurous: combining a driving R&B rhythm section with the experimental soundscapes of Brian Eno, it evolves a whole new musical language. Thematically, it's the sound of a man struggling to get well. Bowie has often talked about his fear of insanity.

The Velvet Underground and Nico has influenced the sound of more bands than almost any other album. And remarkably, it still sounds as fresh and challenging today as it did upon its release in 1967. In this book, Joe Harvard covers everything from Lou Reed's lyrical genius to John Cale's groundbreaking instrumentation, and from the creative input of Andy Warhol to the fine details of the recording process.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA (33 1/3 Series)

When Bruce Springsteen went back on the road in 1984, he opened every show by shouting out, "one, two, one, two, three, four," followed by the droning synth chords of "Born in the U.S.A." Max Weinberg hit his drums with a two-fisted physicality that cut through the swelling chords. With a rolled-up red kerchief around his head and heavy black boots under his faded jeans, Springsteen looked like the character of the song, and from the very first line.

Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits With the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Eric Clapton, the Faces…

Born just outside London in 1942, Glyn Johns was 16 years old at the dawn of rock and roll. His big break as a producer came on the Steve Miller Band's debut album, Children of the Future. He went on to engineer or produce iconic albums for the best in the business, including Abbey Road with the Beatles. Even more impressive, Johns was perhaps the only person on a given day in the studio who was entirely sober, and so he is one of the most reliable and clear-eyed insiders to tell these stories today.

Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (33 1/3 Series)

Between the fitfully brilliant Bringing It All Back Home and the sprawling masterwork that is Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited stands as the defining moment in both Dylan's career and the musical evolution of the mid 1960's. But beyond its place in history, Highway 61 works because of its enduring emotional appeal. Few songwriters before Dylan or since have combined so effectively the intensely personal with the spectacularly universal.

Petty: The Biography

No one other than Warren Zanes, rocker and writer and friend, could author a book about Tom Petty that is as honest and evocative of Petty's music and the remarkable rock and roll history he and his band helped to write. Born in Gainesville, Florida, with more than a little hillbilly in his blood, Tom Petty was a Southern shit kicker, a kid without a whole lot of promise. Rock and roll made it otherwise.

U2's Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall (33 1/3 Series)

This dazzling and prophetic album seems to foreshadow the disintegration of the old world order and the splintering of traditional alliances that have marked the start of the third millennium.

In this intelligent and spiritually attuned book, Stephen Catanzarite reads Achtung Baby as an extended and universal riff on the Fall of Man, showing this to be an album that Bono rightly called one "heavy mother".

Nirvana's In Utero (33 1/3 Series)

Instead of sticking to the "grunge pop" formula that made Nevermind so palatable to the mainstream, with In Utero Nirvana chose instead to challenge their audience, producing an album that truly matched Kurt Cobain's vision of what he had always wanted the band to sound like. There's no sensationalism in this book - just the in-depth story of a great band, in the eye of a storm, striving to recapture their punk-rock ethic.

The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

Stanley Booth, a member of the Rolling Stones’ inner circle, met the band just a few months before Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool, in 1969. He lived with them throughout their 1969 American tour, staying up all night together listening to blues, talking about music, ingesting drugs, and consorting with groupies. His thrilling account culminates with their final concert at Altamont Speedway - a nightmare of beating, stabbing, and killing that would signal the end of a generation’s dreams of peace and freedom.

Tom Waits' 'Swordfishtrombones' (33 1/3 Series)

Two entwined narratives run through the creation of Swordfishtrombones and form the backbone of this book. As the 1970s ended, Waits felt increasingly constrained and trapped by his persona and career. Bitter and desperately unhappy, he moved to New York in 1979 to change his life. It wasn't working. But at his low point, he got the phone call that changed everything....

Steely Dan's Aja (33 1/3 Series)

Aja was the album that made Steely Dan a commercial force on the order of contemporaries like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Chicago. A double-platinum, Grammy-winning best seller, it lingered on the Billboard charts for more than a year and spawned three hit singles. Odd, then, that its creators saw it as an "ambitious, extended" work, the apotheosis of their anti-rock, anti-band, anti-glamour aesthetic. Populated by 35 mostly jazz session players, Aja served up prewar song forms, mixed meters and extended solos to a generation whose idea of pop daring was Paul letting Linda sing lead once in a while.

Neil Young's Harvest (33 1/3 Series)

Neil Young's Harvest is one of those strange albums that has achieved lasting success without ever winning the full approval of rock critics or hardcore fans. Even Young himself has been equivocal, describing it in one breath and his "finest" album, dismissing in the next as an NOR aberration. Here, Sam Inglis explores the circumstances of the album's creation and asks who got it right: The critics, or the millions who have bought Harvest in the 30 years since its release?

Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures: 33 1/3 Series

Joy Division's career has often been shrouded by myths. But the truth is surprisingly simple: over a period of several months, Joy Division transformed themselves from run-of-the-mill punk wannabes into the creators of one of the most atmospheric, disturbing, and influential debut albums ever recorded. Chris Ott carefully picks apart fact from fiction to show how Unknown Pleasures came into being, and how it still resonates so strongly today.

Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan

Down the Highway is an essential biography for Bob Dylan fans and all music enthusiasts, delivering the full, fascinating story of the life and work of this great artist. Author Howard Sounes interviewed more than 250 key people in Dylan’s circle, and gained access to previously unseen documents, to create a fresh and compelling book that takes the reader on a journey from Dylan’s childhood in a Minnesota mining town, through his rise to fame in the 1960s, to his current status as the senior figure in popular music.

Guns N' Roses' 'Use Your Illusion' I and II (33 1/3 Series)

It was the season of the blockbuster. Between August 12 and November 26 1991, a whole slew of acts released albums that were supposed to sell millions of copies in the run-up to Christmas. Metallica, Michael Jackson, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Garth Brooks, MC Hammer, and U2 - all were competing for the attention of the record-buying public at the same time. But perhaps the most attention-seeking act of all was Guns N Roses.

Testimony

On the 40th anniversary of The Band's legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half century.

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

This memoir, written entirely by Elvis Costello himself, offers his unique view of his unlikely and sometimes comical rise to international success, with diversions through the previously undocumented emotional foundations of some of his best known songs and the hits of tomorrow. The book contains many stories and observations about his renowned cowriters and coconspirators, though Costello also pauses along the way for considerations on the less appealing side of infamy.

Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn (33 1/3 Series)

Through a series of interviews with a wide range of people connected to Pink Floyd in their earliest days (including Nick Mason, Peter Jenner, Jenny Fabian, Storm Thorgerson, Duggie Fields and Peter Whitehead), John Cavanagh paints a vivid picture of how this remarkable debut album was created. He brings to life the stories behind each track, as well as Pink Floyd's groundbreaking live performances of the time.

Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (33 1/3 Series)

Pet Sounds is, rightly, one of the most celebrated pop albums ever released. It has also been written about, pored over, and analyzed more than most other albums put together. In this disarming book, Jim Fusilli focuses primarily on the emotional core of the album, on Brian Wilson's pitch-perfect cry of despair. In doing so, he brings to life the search for equilibrium and acceptance that still gives Pet Sounds its heart almost four decades after its release.

Radiohead's OK Computer (33 1/3 Series)

Seemingly granted "classic album" status within days of its release in 1997, OK Computer transformed Radiohead from a highly promising rock act into The Most Important Band in the World - a label the band has been burdened by (and has fooled around with) ever since. Through close musical analysis of each song, Dai Griffiths explores the themes and ideas that have made this album resonate so deeply with its audience.

Audible Editor Reviews

Hailed by some as the greatest rock-and-roll album of all-time, The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street is, as author Bill Janovitz puts it, a "cocktail" that stirs together its myriad influences - the blues, soul, gospel, and country - into a wholly original and intoxicating blend that remains peerless to this day.

Along with a breakdown of each of the 18 tracks, Janovitz provides context on the professional and legal tumult the band faced before they fled to the French Rivera to record the album, and Robert Fass’ performance brilliantly captures the wit and sincerity of Janovitz’s lively prose as he describes the personal effect Exile had, and continues to have, on him.

Publisher's Summary

Tracing the creation of Exile on Main St. from the original songwriting done while touring America through the final editing in Los Angeles, Bill Janovitz explains how an album recorded by a British band in a villa on the French Riviera is pure American rock & roll.

Looking at each song individually, Janovitz unveils the innovative recording techniques, personal struggles, and rock and roll mythmaking that culminated in this pivotal album.

Great stuff if you dig the album out fairly regularly. I enjoyed it that bit more as I spent a few days near Nellcôte.

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Paul

Newcastle, United Kingdom

4/13/13

Overall

"Exile on Main Street"

Being a follower of the Rolling Stones since the beginning, this book was a must to me. It gives an insight into the life, the work of the band. Five great minds in music and two in particular Jagger and Richards cannot always agree and it is shown in this book. It covers one of the best albums recorded by this band from beginning to end, a great read.

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